At 68, Jerry Brown still harbours a craving for politics. The man who ran against Bill Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 1992 now wants to be California's attorney general.

After his failed grassroots bid for the presidency, which had the support of the likes of Carly Simon, Brown went into local politics.

Since 1999, he has been mayor of Oakland, the "ugly sister" to neighbouring San Francisco. Because of term limits, Brown - who performed creditably in the role - has to move on, so he has fixed his sights on becoming California's top lawman.

Given his progressive and maverick past, this has raised a few eyebrows, not least at the New York Times.

"Could it be that Mr Brown - a former Jesuit seminarian who once shared the limelight with Linda Ronstadt, then his girlfriend, tended to the poor with Mother Teresa and fought The Man with his non-profit political action committee We the People - is suddenly siding with (gulp) the establishment?"

Despite such digs, Brown may have the last laugh. He holds a wide lead in the polls against his rival in the Democratic primary, the Los Angeles city attorney Rocky Delgadillo, although the gap is closing. The presumptive Republican nominee is hardly registering on the public's consciousness.

Should Brown become attorney general, Californians will have two of America's more unconventional politicians in charge - Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor turned politician, is the state's governor.

For some bloggers, Brown harbours bigger political ambitions. They suspect that in the event his becoming attorney general, the office will be used as a launching pad to become governor again.

Brown served two terms back in the 1970s, when he earned the nickname Governor Moonbeam for wanting a space academy and a satellite for emergency communications. Now, the idea does not seem far-fetched at all.

Indeed, the columnist who coined the term, Mike Royko of the Chicago Sun-Times, disavowed the nickname many years later, saying Brown was "just as serious" as any other politician.

But the nickname has always stuck, as has Brown's penchant for politics. As he told the Times: "If you say I like politics, I like government, yeah: did Picasso like to paint?"